Lottery takes a chance on $30 scratch ticket

Wednesday

May 7, 2014 at 6:00 AM

Thirty dollars can buy about 80 packages of ramen noodles or 8 gallons of gas. It can buy a 30-pack of Budweiser and some chips, or it can buy one lottery ticket that offers a chance to win more than $600 million in prizes, which is something lottery players in Massachusetts can now consider.

By Kim Ring TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Thirty dollars can buy about 80 packages of ramen noodles or 8 gallons of gas.

It can buy a 30-pack of Budweiser and some chips, or it can buy one lottery ticket that offers a chance to win more than $600 million in prizes, which is something lottery players in Massachusetts can now consider.

The Massachusetts State Lottery released the new "World Class Millions" ticket April 22 and sales have been going well, official said.

The large-sized scratch ticket with 10 winning numbers across the top and 30 potential matches below is the highest priced game in the state's lottery arsenal, but other states have successfully offered scratch tickets priced at more than $20 for some time. Connecticut has had a $30 ticket since 2002, and New Hampshire offers a $25 ticket. In Texas, gamblers can scratch a $50 ticket, said Beth Bresnahan, executive director of the Massachusetts Lottery.

The ticket offers a $15 million top prize, along with 36 $1 million instant winners, and will potentially earn the state a net profit of $86.8 million over the life of the game, Ms. Bresnahan explained.

"That flows back to cities and towns in the form of local aid," she said. The lottery returned $956 million to cities and towns in Massachusetts last year.

The higher prizes are something some frequent scratchers consider when they make the leap to the $30 ticket.

Leane Pierce of West Brookfield thought about that when she bought her first $30 ticket, and she also thought about the cost.

"It seems like a lot of money," she said, adding that her husband likes instant tickets and wasn't feeling well, so she bought the World Class Millions scratch ticket for him.

They didn't win, though, and she's doubtful she'll do it again unless it's a gift for someone.

At Country Corner's Citgo in West Brookfield, where Mrs. Pierce shops, Jack Kenney wasn't really thinking about a $30 ticket.

"Five is usually my limit," he said. Spending more might indicate a problem for some gamblers, he said.

Sandy Parzych works behind the counter. She said plenty of people have been buying the tickets, and while standing in front of a wall display of potential millions is sometimes tempting, she does a little math and figures out how long she'd have to work to pay for a $30 ticket.

"I think about how many hours that would be," she said, and that's usually a deterrent.

One customer admitted he'd bought a dozen of the new tickets in about two weeks, but he wouldn't give his name. He hadn't hit big yet, and though he once won $10,000 on an instant ticket, he figures he's lost money overall. He admitted he's single and doesn't have to answer to anyone about his tickets.

"I don't go haywire," he said of his ticket purchasing. "I do it for entertainment only."

In Spencer, Vijay Patel runs the seventh busiest lottery sales operation in Worcester County from Laney's Variety on Route 9. A steady stream of customers buying lottery, beer and wine, gas and cigarettes keep his business busy. Many customers are trying the $30 tickets, he said.

"I'm not surprised," he said. "People come in and they are buying $20 tickets, $10 dollar tickets. I knew they would buy $30 tickets."

The lottery commission studied whether a more expensive ticket would sell with group testing, Ms. Bresnahan said. They found that consumers like the second-chance opportunity, which offers five more chances to win $1 million. Even the colors of the ticket were carefully selected to be most appealing.

The lottery printed 25.2 million tickets, which are expected to generate $756 million in sales.

Mr. Patel doesn't gamble; his religion forbids it. But, he said, he enjoys seeing his customers happy, and if he were to comment on their habits, he'd be more likely to tell them to quit smoking rather than suggest they give up gambling.

"But they're not going to listen to me anyway," he said.

Contact Kim Ring at kim.ring@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @kimmring